When we help make connections and introductions for our coachees, other senior leaders and friends who are beginning the journey of finding their next career move, there are many proven best practice ways of connecting and networking in the real world that really do work helping get the job you want.

In the last few years it has become increasingly apparent that the successful use of LinkedIn also has to become a core strand of your job search strategy and many of our real world recommendations directly translate into powerful ways to leverage the LinkedIn platform.

A quick caveat: I am NOT job hunting! My profile is written for a different purpose. So this one falls into the category of do as I say, not as I do. So here we go, this is a summary of my current advice for our clients and friends who are seeking new roles.

How come 'Without looking like you are job hunting'?

There are two reasons you don't want to look like you are looking.

One is obvious; you usually don't want your current employer to know.

Number two is more subtle.

When you are connecting and networking in the real world with a view to finding a new role, just about the worst thing you can tell someone is "I'm looking for a job". The immediate effect is to frighten off your contacts – they almost certainly don't have a role there and then and they will now be thinking, I would like to help, but I can't. At best you'll get a "Send me your resume and I'll pass it on to HR". Anything that involves HR is pretty much the death of your job search so you definitely don't want this and at worst you will also kill your networking process dead too.

The same applies to LinkedIn, as soon as you appear as a supplicant looking for a role, you will end up as just another profile in the metaphorical or actual pile of resumes; and again that's the end of the line.

3 Steps to Do It Well

There is a much better approach to getting found and successfully selling yourself into your next role using LinkedIn. Here is what you need to do in 3 steps:

Step 1: Get the Profile Right.

Step 2: Get Active.

Step 3: Get Networking.

Before you start all this, there are some profile fundamentals too, which I am assuming your have done already! So just to check:

Upload a good professional profile photo

Use the new profile background image feature

Use all the rich media options that you can now include in your profile – if you want to see someone who does this outstandingly well have a search through some profiles and as a great example have a look at this one: Chris Reed on LinkedIn who knows all about best practices in marketing with LinkedIn

Turn on 'open profile' so people can easily connect with you

Turn on the feature that lets others see that you have viewed their profile

Upgrade to one of the premium levels so you can find people more easily

Get and give loads of recommendations

Turn OFF the feature that notifies your network of changes to your profile (you'll be making a lot of changes and you don't want to spam your network with these)

STEP 1: GET THE PROFILE RIGHT

2 Core Elements

There are three core elements in a profile that gets you found on LinkedIn and can form the basis of a great sell.

1. The Headline.

Most people tend to use the headline as simple a place to put your job title. Please Don't! Instead the headline is the first way of selling the value you bring to a job.

Think about who you are first. Even better think about who you want to be in the next job that you want. Ideally you need to be able to complete the sentence "I am…." For your next job.

What follows the 'I am' is a statement of the benefits that you bring, like a summary of what someone will get if they hire you. Even if you are not actively looking for a job, it is still best if this is written as a statement of value.

I took a look at just a few LinkedIn employee profiled to get some examples and got the following (mentally insert the 'I am'):

Transforming companies through social media recruitment

Connecting buyers and sellers to build relationships

Transforming the way companies grow their business through social selling

Passionate about customer success and transformation

Helping Businesses attract and recruit the best Talent

To discover more about the proven best practices of headlines watch this video interview from inc.com with Reed Hoffman one of LinkedIn's founders on the importance of how the headline can get you found.

2. The Profile Summary

The profile summary is a powerful Bio that gets you noticed, really sells what you have achieved and – by extension – what you are capable of. It is the evidence of your success and the only outcome you want is the mental reaction from a reader that is "I would like to meet this person". Job Done!

Start the profile with a first paragraph that describes the benefits of you. This is not a resume, "sell the sizzle not the sausage" i.e. your product features not the product benefits. It's the full range of benefits and solutions that someone will get when they hire you, what can you do for them. Think about who your next boss will be, think about their likely challenges and issues –– what achievements will they need you to deliver –put something in your own words about the benefits of you, and include lots of action words, the action oriented tense is what you want…

So ideally like this, have one or a maximum of two paragraphs that describe the benefits of you.

After these two paragraphs and still in the profile section – you need 3 or 4 bullet points which are your major achievements in the last 3 or 4 years,

Problem/ Situation, Action - what you did, and Result, what the outcome or results were (in $/%/# if possible) leave the softer benefit achievements for the last couple of bullet points

If I was making these up it using this format it would be using 'I' and 'action verbs', e.g.…..

In a challenging and diverse global operating environment, I led the creation and implementation of improved leadership structures and the deployment of new practices in operations to successfully enable revenue growth of 250% in 4 years

With a fragmented regional client base and needing to meet diverse client needs across Asia, I have transformed the way we source and manage our new business and used an 80/20 approach to develop a new range or core customer centric solutions for Asia, successfully winning 10 new projects this year with a profit contribution of US$250MM over the next 5 years

For all the other resume type job responsibilities and duties (yawn!) - you can then put under the individual job descriptions in the profile if you must. Make sure that each individual job in the detailed profile also has a quick summary of the benefits you achieved in that specific role too.

The other thing that you will see some of the LinkedIn employees doing is weaving a personal narrative into the profile summary, this can also work I think.

An Offline BIO

Your Profile Photo, the Headline, plus your Summary Paragraph, including the bullet point achievements now also becomes a real world bio too.

Create these in a PDF attachment – a third of a page is long enough - it fits on a screen and will only get a 3-5 second glance - and use this when you are reaching out to connections and seeking to meet or arrange calls with people. Again the objective is to just get a "I want to meet this person" reaction.

Your Resume

The Headline, the summary and the individual jobs and education sections when put together then also form your 2 page (ONLY) resume that you can use to send to HR ideally after you have actually got the job from your great connecting and networking with business decision makers.

STEP 2: GET ACTIVE

Raise your LinkedIn activity to get noticed by head-hunters and senior business leaders.

I suggest you set aside 30 minutes a day to read industry news and views and other topical leadership stuff and share perhaps one interesting industry relevant article a day in your status on LinkedIn (Set up several targeted google alerts to get notified when relevant stuff pops up)

Also join as many industry relevant groups as you can, then follow all the companies who you might want to work with and follow relevant influencers: then start commenting on things/liking other people's shares and comments. Actively comment on other peoples stuff always in a highly constructive way – i.e. Thank people for their view, say what you like about what they said first, then add your own thoughts. Don't become a troll – steer well clear of confrontations or strong disagreements, you are all about generating positive perceptions.

STEP 3: GET NETWORKING

Find and invite to connect with as many people as you can, staying within the constraint of people who are at least aware of you, or where you share many connections, or at your previous employers. Stretch your thinking on who knows you – professional associations, industry bodies, clubs and societies, even your dentist! You don't know who they know and maximising your contacts will maximise your second level connections to whom you will be relatively visible and who will be the easiest for you to reach out to.

Turn off the feature that hides the fact that you have viewed other people's profiles and then go and just visit the profiles of loads of industry leaders and industry recruiters you want them to start looking at you.

Bottom up: Find at a minimum 200 people at the 1st level of your network that you know really well. (Force yourself to do this, person number 200 will be someone you forgot about who will turn out to be really useful in your search!). Prioritise these. High, Medium , or Low in terms of relevance to your search and because you do know them all, go meet the first 10 on the HIGH list, or buy them a coffee – just ask for their advice and use the opportunity to share that you are exploring options and practice sharing your LinkedIn summary in a highly conversational way. Engage them in sharing their challenges and issues, practicing asking loads of open questions. Also practice bringing value, from all your reading and posting of news articles – experiment with "saying", that reminds me of …(article you read, news item, person you met, etc.)… and share it afterwards.

Top Down: Search on LinkedIn for 10 companies you would like to work for. In that company search for the person (or people) who could be your next boss. Find out who you know who knows that person (if no-one, then continue bottom up networking until there is someone, or move on to the next likely target). Your intention here is to get to a point where you can send an InMail or email that begins with "X suggested I should reach out to you to connect…" X being someone else who you have permission from to name drop.

Critical Tip: One final real world tip that is vital when connecting or networking. You need to practice asking "Who else do you think it would be useful to connect with?" and when they say, as they will, "Oh, I can connect you with so-and-so" You MUST step in and so "Let me do that for you, I will reach out and connect and say we spoke" then get the contact details. If they still insist on connecting you MUST say NO let them off the hook "I really appreciate that and its great if you can, however, please relax about that I will see if I can find their details, there is really no need to go to any trouble for me". This is really really important. If they go back to their desk with the intention of making a connection, we are all too busy these day and they will never actually do it. Instead of a contact you will create a sense of obligation to you instead, this will kill your networking and lose you connections. They will forever be feeling bad that they meant to do something for you and never did and you really must let them of the hook completely. You are about leaving strong positive impressions not obligations and that is truly all you really need to do.

Finally don't wait until your profile is perfect - get something up there and get started and then refine along the way.

18 September 2014

Purpose

To design and implement a comprehensive set of capabilities, activities and processes to ensure that your company attracts, retains, motivates and develops the talented people it needs now and in the future.

Overall Objectives

For the Company

Drive strategic business objectives

A high performance workplace with a culture of learning and development

Ensuring value for money through targeting talent spend and ensuring talent is coherently hired and managed

Ensure diverse leadership

Address diversity issues and to eradicate any direct or indirect discrimination

Engage people

Retain talented people

Enhance the Company image and position in the employment market

For Employees

Engage with work and be more successful

Be more satisfied in their roles and proud to work for The Company

Recommend The Company to others

Have a positive opinion of their managers

Feel that their performance is valued

Have stronger feelings of personal and professional growth and accomplishment

Feel values and important to the success of the organisation

What is an Integrated Talent Management Framework?

Six Key Domains Designed around the Core Strategy and linked to Competencies, Goals and Metrics

Workforce Planning

To ensure the organisation is planning ahead for the leadership qualities, skills, knowledge and experience to build effective pipelines, through:

Regular analysis of external and internal business drivers by market and product line so that effective leadership qualities and capabilities can be identified, defined and developed to meet these

Estimates on a regular basis for 12 month demand for new leaders required to deliver strategic objectives

Reporting on employee supply forecasts based on current levels and future requirements

Selection and Hiring

A consistent framework of best practice selection, assessment and hiring tools and hiring manager skills to conduct and implement fair recruitment practices based on strategic needs, cultural values, motivational assessments and robust competency based selection interviews

Development of pipeline and brand management approaches to generate new employee leads and manage a positive employer brand awareness in the market, including ongoing best practice candidate management

Induction and On-boarding

Implement on-boarding and induction approaches designed to build engagement from day one, integrate with development planning based on pre-hire assessments and competency interviews, incorporate regular 360 measurement of 'on the job' development and accelerate "time to perform" for new hires while minimising first year attrition.

Performance Management

Performance management and feedback processes to be designed using objective management and balanced scorecard approaches, incorporating both goal and behavioural metrics. Behavioural metrics link to the competency framework with the further development of management capabilities that incorporate feedback giving and situational leadership skills

Talent and Career Development

Implement best practice 9-Box Talent management frameworks, building the capabilities of people leaders to assess growth potential, to engage in effective talent review discussions and to create the coaching capabilities and coaching culture leaders need to conduct effective development discussions with individual team members. Align top talent development approaches with existing initiatives in The Company and create a culture of self-led career development to maximise employee engagement.

Succession planning

Create an integrated succession planning framework that connects with performance management and talent management approaches, enabling leader to have successful talent review discussions and drive internal hiring approaches ensuring ready now successors for all business critical and leadership roles.

Competencies, Goals and Metrics

At the core of the integrated approach is a clear set of Company specific Competencies which describe the skills and behaviours that best reflect the Company Values. The core competency frameworks can be tailored to specific roles and functional areas, creating core job families and specific job profiles for business critical and leadership positions, which incorporate values, motivations, and soft skills requirements, including detailed behavioural descriptions by job level for performance and development frameworks and also identifying the essential technical skills requirements. A Balanced scorecard can be created to track the successful implementation and execution of the business strategy and to enable objectives based performance management at the level key business drivers and metrics.

12 Critical Success Factors

1. Decode the business strategy and define the predictors of success in terms of:

Roles and accountabilities

Leadership skills and capabilities

Future focussed behaviours and skills

Role model success profiles

2. Align and engage the leadership team:

As role models

As accountable – with measures - for their success as talent managers

To define and set the culture and cascade the vision and goals

To know how to provide targets and goals, hold people accountable for them, provide feedback and shape aligned development activities for their teams

To be able to engage with and create a culture that values the talent review process

3. Create a compelling story about the organisation's future and communicate how employees can be a part of this, execute this demonstrating promises made and promises kept.

4. Get your talent connected and networked:

Ensure your top talent is managed by good people

Surround talented individuals with each other

Create wider organisational context and with networking/ connecting globally for top talent.

Conduct interviews for key business roles and with leaders and with global stakeholders and design a set of overarching Company Competencies linked to the Values and incorporating any existing or emerging competency frameworks from the global level.

Create job families and job profiles for business critical and leadership roles, with behavioural descriptions for each competency that describe the expectations of each role and provide detailed behavioural descriptions that are linked to the different leadership levels of each role.

Create materials and communication plans and implement approaches to share the new competency frameworks across The Company and to create engagement in the ideas and aspirations of the longer term goal of an Integrated Talent Management Framework

2. Balanced Scorecard

Design and development of a Balanced Scorecard approach with metrics linked to business strategy and the core Company Values. The approach to be fully aligned with The Company global needs and objectives. Primary purpose is to establish a framework for performance management that can reflect behaviours linked to values and the behavioural measurement linked to the competency framework that will underpin the performance management, talent management and succession planning approaches.

Create and deploy a communication plan to continue the journey to the integrated

Provide tailored leader training on the use of the scorecard and the setting of objectives using this approach

3. Hiring and On-boarding

Incorporate competency frameworks into best practice interview guides and interview skills building for all hiring managers. Include tools and process for managers to profile the values, motivations and competencies of the role they are hiring for and establish fair and consistent evaluation processes and tools.

Build on hiring evaluation process and develop and implement best practice on-boarding and induction processes.

4. Performance Management

Design and implement an integrated approach to performance management that incorporates assessment based on the balanced scorecard and competency frameworks with dual weighting for goals and behaviours to link with talent development and succession planning approaches.

Develop communication materials and guideline for all people leaders on how to conduct FHA (Fair and Honest Assessment) to global expectations.

Train all people leaders in the use of an integrated FHA approach and the importance of and how to have enhanced employee discussions on a regular basis.

5. Talent Development

Design and implement a best practice 9-box approach to talent management. Create frameworks and process guidelines and instructions for people leaders.

Train people leaders in:

How to conduct talent evaluation on your team

Having successful Talent review discussions

How to have regular development planning discussions with your individual team members, communicating 9 box messages for employees and delivering on coaching and mentoring for career development discussions

Establish and implement a Mentoring Programme

6. Succession Planning

Design process and guidelines and implement successful succession planning discussions for key business roles and people leaders. Ensure processes for linking to global talent reviews to drive a hire internally first mind-set and enable the identification of ready now successors for critical and leadership roles.

7. Other Steps

Develop long term workforce planning, the regular analysis of business strategy requirements and recommendations for long term development and evolution of the talent management framework.

Develop metrics for the tracking of success and regular feedback on the implementation and ongoing operation of the end to end talent process.

Fully link the competency and values frameworks into processes for assessment centres, conducting interviews, on-boarding training and induction, 360 feedback and other areas of the learning and development agenda.

Call or email for a complimentary discussion on implementing your talent management frameworks

At NoLimits, we believe that a successful business is the combination of values, attitudes, behaviours and motivations of the people who work within it. From experience, most organizational issues/ challenges are people problems. We use our understanding of people and good business, with the psychology that underpins it all, to improve organisational performance. The solutions created are people centred, pragmatic and deliver sustainable change.

PERSONAL GROWTH FOR PROFESSIONALS

We are about Personal Growth for Professionals.

Personal: Every individual has the potential to change and develop new or modified behaviours that get a better outcome.

Professionals: The outcomes are in the professional work context. The personal growth creates better teamwork, leadership and collaboration to drive business results, retain talent and build a better corporate culture.

We help you improve business results, create improved organisational performance and retain and develop talent through a holistic approach integrating our activities with the overall organisation learning and development strategy. This is essential to ensure the effectiveness of your investment and to drive a real change in the behaviours and culture of an organisation.

OUR VALUES

Expertise:We pride ourselves on being at the forefront of new thinking within the industry and will share our knowledge with our clients to help give them the competitive edge.

Integrity: We commit ourselves to being fully accountable for what we promise to our clients and we will always deliver on our commitments regardless of our own wants or needs.

Positive Results:Return on Investment for our clients is always top of our agenda. We actively seek ways of transferring knowledge back into the workplace to ensure sustainable change and positive results. Our programmes are bespoke to our client to help avoid the 'so what' factor and ensure immediate transfer to the workplace.

Innovation:We are constantly seeking and delivering new and innovative ways of delivering our solutions, be that via workshops or by shadowing our clients to give them timely and immediate feedback.

We have a regional presence and our facilitators are highly experienced to deliver a range of interventions which include:

Creating your vision

Prioritising and driving results

Managing performance

Coaching skills for leaders, to retain and develop staff

Motivating and building employee engagement

Talent management

Building relationships and influencing skills

Collaborating effectively

Managing in a Crisis

Interview Skills

Presentation Skills

Personal Brand and Impact

Managing careers, yours and others

Networking

Leading and Collaborating with Myers Briggs

Communicating with Extended DISC

Managing across cultures

Core skills for new managers

Induction programmes for new employees

Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ)

Parker Team Player Roles

360° Feedback

The Disney Creative Planning Strategy

Work-Life balance

NoLimits has three core areas of activity working in long term partnership with our customers.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Working with you we help you develop interventions to close the gaps on key leadership competencies in an organisation.

There are three typical forms of intervention:

Workshops designed and developed to drive behavioural change based on extensive needs analysis, feedback, modular approaches, post programme follow up and adapting case studies and examples to each situation.

Workshops can be developed, owned and branded by the client leveraging our programme design capabilities and with train the trainer sessions to build the organisations own capability to implement change.

Workshops can already exist in a company and we can easily leverage our extensive experience to step in as local resources to deliver existing global or regional programmes, often advising on and enhancing content and approach, adapting to local cultures and enhancing overall programme effectiveness.

TEAM DEVELOPMENT

Developing and enhancing team effectiveness can result in substantial business benefits through improved communication, collaboration and open confrontation.

Teams that work more effectively are those that naturally collaborate to create win-win outcomes for the organisation, using open, honest and direct communication styles and adopting a solutions mind-set. These teams plan and prioritise effectively and get better results faster.

The basis of successful team development is in four areas:

Self-awareness and awareness of others

Communication, collaboration and influencing skills

The ability to set vision and goals and priorities, driving execution

Driving innovation and being successful change agents

Our Team Development workshops are constructed for senior management and other leadership teams, either of whole companies, business units, or functional areas and markets.

We incorporate the benefits of Organisational Climate Surveys on leadership, teamwork and communication and focus on driving the teams we work with to transformational action using a focus on values, identity, purpose and through driving feedback and direct open and honest team communication.

Alternative approaches for team development focus on one time interventions of usually one or two days with a team to use models that help them collectively focus on team goals, prioritise better, communicate better, understand each other and collaborate better.

COACHING

The case for coaching is compelling. Great leaders improve business performance. Hewitt Associates Top Companies for Leaders study found that companies with stronger leadership practices outperform their industry peers in long term growth and financial returns.

A key practice underpinning this is the use of executive coaching. 47% of the top 20 Top Companies for Leaders regularly assign coaches to high performing executives. Just 10% of the other 300 companies make the same claim. Coaching is a powerful tool to accelerate the performance of successful executives and their companies.

NoLimits coaching helps leaders:

● Clarify, plan and reach goals ● Design a plan of action ● Discover and take advantage of new opportunities ● Solve problems ● Increase self-awareness and awareness of others ● Make decisions

We help you identify what is most important to you and how to align your actions with organisational goals. We help you discover wha you want both personally and professionally and we will help you gain clarity on what is important to you, your values and strengths, which will enable you to make more meaningful choices and take a consistent action.

NOLIMITS COACHING APPROACHES:

We offer coaching solutions for many needs:

Senior Executive Coaching -For high performers in the organisation who need to focus on specific aspects of their personal development to continue their career trajectory, to continue to deliver enhanced results and / or develop and enhance specific leadership competencies. Our one to one executive coaching helps you to become a better leader, to achieve superior results and to increase your potential.

Strategic Coaching -With these interventions we work with your leadership teams to facilitate and coach innovation sessions developing the organisation's strategic options. Understanding that innovation is 90% execution and 10% ideas, these coaching sessions are focused on building consensus and alignment and driving towards commitment to action and achievable outcomes.

One to One Individual Leadership Development -Building on the coaching approach we offer one to one leadership training. These coaching and personal development packages focus on a specific leadership competency and are typically delivered in a modular approach. Many busy senior executives prefer this fast track to development and the process enables the leader to implement key skills in between sessions, reporting back on progress and real experience to fine tune the approach.

Shadow Coaching-Our shadow coach will be with you for an extended period, giving feedback at the end of key days about what you did. We identify how you behave in meetings, including analysis of body language, use of voice and language and the reactions of co-workers, customers and suppliers. We explore how you handle and prioritise time, schedules, paperwork, email, telephone calls, and breaks. You obtain direct, real time performance feedback.

Team Coaching-Your team has a problem to solve, a plan to prepare, a product or service to develop and launch. All the best teams use a coach. Experience the effectiveness of structured facilitation, generating clear commitments to act and establishing common goals.

Coaching Skills for Leaders-We provide coaching skills training for leaders and HR professionals. This real skills transfer ensures that leaders know how to get the best performance out of their teams and the individuals that work for them. This can also build core organisational skills.

SKILLS BUILDING

EXAMPLES OF OUR MOST FREQUENT LEADERSHIP, COMMUNICATION AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES

Programme duration is typically 1-2 days subject to class size and the level of customisation and practice sessions required

Assertiveness Skills

Distinguish between assertive, aggressive and passive behaviour

Express yourself assertively using specific verbal and non-verbal techniques and get maximum results

Request what you want assertively and get it

Criticise and change behaviour while staying friends

Use a simple technique to reinforce the behaviour of others

Disagree with the other person in such a way that helps them understand your stance on the matter without taking it personally

Career Management and Networking

Learn how to proactively take the lead in managing your own career and profile and enhance the profile of your division / organisation

Use your preferred learning and thinking styles to excel in your career and organisation

Practise the tools and techniques of networking inside and outside of the organisation and managing connections to increase best practice, building the profile yourself and the function / organisation you represent

Design a resume or profile of your skills, attributes and achievements to leverage what you have to offer, assess your development needs and have confident career discussions

Distinguish how to use and respond to the different types of interviewing techniques

Develop planning and actioning tools that will allow you to prioritise your goals and work tasks in line with organisational vision and goals

Client Relationship Skills

Complete online DISC report before the programme

Apply the essential principles of client services to anyone who wants your 'output'

Build Connection and Trust, using self-awareness and awareness of others with Extended DISC

Time bandits - are you your own time bandits and how to SAY NO and be liked for it

Personal action planning

Power Presenting

Identify the fundamental parameters of a good presentation

Engage your audience and get their fullest attention

Prepare your story, understand what you want to show and record it

Use the power of your voice and the 5 power actors techniques that will transform your impact

Use video based feedback and see your performance accelerate during the process of giving three individual practice presentations

See best in class examples of presenting skills and unlock the techniques used

Design high-impact slides that deliver your message efficiently

Deliver your presentation with confidence and leave a positive and memorable experience for the audience

Control your environment to have the highest impact

Scenario Planning

Use a 7-stage approach for participants to experience the practical application of scenario planning techniques and learn how to leverage the techniques for strategic leadership planning

Frame your challenge using the 6 hats brainstorming techniques

Define the future uncertainties using Harvard Business Model Re-invention strategies

Create the scenarios and story lines and shape the responses, identifying implications

Use the Delphi technique and mind mapping tools in evaluating and exploring data and identify trends and driving forces for your business strategy

Working as a team

Identify how teams progress overtime and how does this impact team members and the leaders' leadership style

Evaluate a team's balance based on Team Roles and use systematic methods to enhance the efficiency of a team's intercommunications

Use empathic communication and increase your understanding of emotional skills

Deliver constructive feedback and praise efficiently while paying attention to both verbal and non-verbal communication

Discover what you know about yourself and how others think of you

Coach systematically to help others achieve more and become their trusted team member

Learn best practice knowledge sharing approaches so that all in the team can develop and grow to be their best

Advanced Coaching Skills for Professionals

Study models for performance and development coaching that help solve employee performance challenges, goal achievement and development needs

Learn to use coaching to accelerate progress towards individual, team and organisational goals

Understand the power of questioning techniques to generate solutions

Learn how to build an open environment of trust and mutual development

Acquire and practise coaching skills and techniques to understand what motivates and drives the members of your team, peers and colleagues

CERTIFICATION PROGRAMMES

EXTENDED DISC

We can certify you to conduct Extended DISC based training in-house. Become certified in this two day programme. Includes 20 complimentary DISC reports for your 1st programme and access to your own personal online DISC administrator system, when you can create tailored reports and administer your own programmes. Certification programmes run twice a year in Singapore and London. In-house certification programmes are also available.

NLP BUSINESS PRACTITIONER PROGRAMME

This certification has been uniquely designed based on over 20 years of corporate knowledge. Many NLP programmes are designed for therapy, whereas the NoLimits NLP Business Practitioner Certification has been designed and applied with both the work and life context in mind. NoLimits has designed the NLP techniques to have an immediate positive impact that can be applied in work situations such as leading, managing careers, influencing, enhancing relationships and resolving conflict, and in personal life situations such as overcoming fears and limitations, having purpose, family, relationships, health and wealth. The workbook, reading materials, references and facilitation empower you with your own practical tool kit for both your personal and professional development.

DEPLOYMENT

TAILORED PROGRAMMES

All of our programmes can be tailored to your needs, including blending materials, running participant focus groups, and developing participant and role specific case studies and practical exercises. Please call us at +65 6410 9526 to discuss your exact requirements and we will develop a tailored proposal for you.

05 July 2014

A friend and client sent me this in an email the other day, so I dont have a ready attribution, however it is such highly practical advice for a bit more balance in your life that I wanted to share:

Achieving Mindfulness

Practicing mindfulness in any of many ways will help you with your energy, balance, and a sense of empowerment and meaning in your life. You also need to focus on setting yourself up for success – take this simple audit to discover what you can implement, one step at a time to help bring you to balance.

Enabling Mindfulness and Personal Energy Audit (Answer True or False)

I don’t regularly get at least 7 hours of sleep and /or I often wake up feeling tired

I frequently skip breakfast or I settle for something that isn’t particularly healthy

I don’t do cardiovascular training at lest three times a week and strength training at least twice a week

I don’t take regular breaks during the day to renew and recharge

I often eat lunch at my desk if I eat lunch at all

I frequently find myself feeling irritable, impatient or anxious at work especially when demand is high

I don’t have enough time with my family and loved ones and when i ‘m with them I’m not always really with them

I take too little time for the activities that I most deeply enjoy

I rarely stop to express my appreciation to others or to savor and celebrate my accomplishment s and blessings

I often feel that my life is just a relentless set of demands I’m expected to meet and task I have to complete

I have difficulty focusing on one thing at a time and I’m easily distracted during the day especially be email

I spend much of my time reacting to immediate demands rather than focusing on activities with longer term value and leverage

I don’t take enough time for reflection strategizing and thinking creatively

I rarely have any time when my mind is quiet and free of thoughts

I often work on evenings and weekends and or I rarely take an email free vacation

I don’t feel passionately committed to what I do

I spend too little time at work doing what I do best and enjoy most

There are significant gaps between what I say is important in my life and how I actually live

My decision at work are often more influence by external demands than by a strong clear sense of my own purpose

I don’t invent enough time and energy in making positive difference to others and or in the world

As a guideline, if more than 10 of these statements are TRUE, then it’s definitely time to implement some positive change in your life.

HOW TO IMPLEMENT POSITIVE ACTION

Pick just ONE item that was TRUE for you and implement the positive alternative behavior. Just one item is important: lasting change happens one step at a time - by defining for yourself one specific action you can commit to and practice for 30 days straight then you can create a new habit in your life.

You can pick another action item after you have done and celebrated achieving the first one!

27 June 2014

The Rocking Chair Test helps you to commit to accomplishing each of your goals, because it helps put things into proper perspective based on what's important to you right now and in the future.

The Rocking Chair Test will help you see your long-term options in the present. You will have the benefit of knowing how differently your life would have gone had you made an alternate decision. It's almost like viewing a parallel Universe and having an insight into the outcomes of opposing decisions that you make on any single issue.

At any rate, if any decision that you make passes the test, then you will know that it was a good choice.

The Rocking Chair test is a great tool when it comes to making difficult life changing decisions. Ask yourself:

What decisions are you presently struggling with?

What decisions are stopping you from having the life that you desire?

What one decision do you keep putting off that could turn your life around?

Maybe you need to make an impactful work related decision?

Maybe you need to know if you should follow your childhood dream and do what you really feel passionate about?

Maybe you need to be certain of taking a risk and doing something new and different that you have never done before?

We all come across questions like these during our life. And if you are like most people, you probably just shut them out, choose the safe choice, and go with the familiar.

We all want incredible results in our lives. But we also want to do things that are safe, practical, pragmatic, secure, logical, realistic and normal. We are unwilling to do anything New and Different because it's a risk. If you feel you must make a decision but fear that it might be a wrong one, then I suggest you take the "rocking chair test" right now and make a better decision for tomorrow, and your life might never be the same again. And all it took was one well-informed decision.

The Rocking Chair Test decision-making process imposes no risk because it helps you make an educated decision based on what outcomes are important to you.

It allows you a peek into the future. A glimpse at the possible outcomes tells you what decisions you need to make today, that will lead you to the preferred outcome in the future.

It is like going into the future and looking at where your life ends up based on the decisions that you made in the past. You then get to come back into the present and make exactly those decisions.

All you have to do is to imagine yourself as an old man or an old woman, nearing the end of your life. As you sit yourself down in your rocking chair, get comfortable and contemplate upon your life. Look back to where you are right now, struggling with the decision of what to do. Ask yourself:

Will this decision have any meaning to you in the future?

Will you be proud or ashamed of your decision?

How will this decision have affected the course of your life?

How different would your life have been had you made a totally opposite decision?

Now, look back to this moment in your life as if you had not achieved your goal.

Then, imagine yourself having achieved it.

Get specific and feel your way through the answers. Experience a difference? Maybe this can be pain that would follow from not taking a chance? Or happiness that would come from accomplishing your goal?

Other questions you can think about when taking the Rocking Chair Test:

How do I feel about my choices and the life I have lived?

What are my regrets?

What do I wish I made time for?

What do I wish I had tried?

What if I never made this particular choice? How would I feel? Would my life be different?

Do I regret not taking the chance? Is it something I would always wonder about?

Do I feel like something is missing? Is there a sadness or longing?

Is there a great pride and comfort of having made that decision?

What if I just stayed in my job, would I regret not taking the chance to explore my options when I was younger?

What if I didn't at least try to follow my dreams, would it be something that I would always look back upon and wonder, what if…?

What would I wish I could tell my younger self, if I could make the choice again?

Use this tool as a shot of courage to go for something that you really want out of life.

What is currently standing in your way to achieve the happy feeling in the rocking chair?

'Regret for thing we did, can be tempered by time;

It is regret for things we did not do that is inconsolable.'

Sidney Harris

ROCKING CHAIR TEST TEMPLATE

The Rocking Chair Test helps you to commit to accomplishing each of your goals, because it helps put things into proper perspective based on what's important to you right now and in the future. The Rocking Chair test can help you make career decisions.

Imagine:

Today is your eightieth birthday. You're sitting yourself down in your rocking chair on the porch for a quiet moment, just before your family will come visit to celebrate. You look back on your life and contemplate on the choices that you've made…